Ohio Woman Says Drug-Addicted Son Died After Irma Transfer

An Ohio woman says her drug-addicted son has died of an apparent overdose after being abruptly released from a Florida treatment center ahead of Hurricane Irma.

Kristy Herndon Whaley, of Westerville, says the body of 25-year-old Kyle Whaley was found behind a strip mall in Delray Beach on Wednesday.

The Columbus Dispatch eports Kyle Whaley studied economics and statistics at Ohio State University before becoming addicted to pain pills and dropping out in 2015.

His mother said he was relocated to Florida from Ohio for treatment due to lack of available beds.

When Legacy Healing Center, northwest of Fort Lauderdale, evacuated Sept. 8, Whaley said her son somehow wound up unsupervised at a sobriety house miles away rather than at the center's evacuation site.

When the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills submitted its 43-page emergency management plan to county administrators in July, it included details on how the home would maintain clean linen, distribute canned food and ensure residents had access to hand sanitizers.

It made no mention of how residents would be kept cool if the home’s power was lost.

That was a tragic oversight: On Wednesday, health regulators said, eight residents of the rehabilitation center succumbed to cardiac and respiratory failure after a portable air cooling system malfunctioned.

Hurricane Irma destroyed farms and groves all around Hendry County. An agriculture expert says 78 percent of the adult population in Hendry works in the ag industry. Irma damages will affect everyone from growers to grocery stores.

Hurricane Irma has passed, and some Floridians impacted by the storm have to rebuild – not only their homes, but their lives.

When a natural disaster as unpredictable as Irma hits, the main concern is getting people to a safe place and making sure they have enough resources to manage through the storm. However, once the immediate danger has passed, the next step is to recover and move forward.